Footsteps of a Fool
by Saber Wing
Summary: Ulen Hibiki was a disgrace. It had taken him his entire life to realize that.


_**Author's Note: **_Hey everyone! I'm very excited for you all to read this fic. There's nothing that I know of that is written about Dr. Hibiki, and I think that's a shame. Massive spoilers, in case you hadn't guessed.

I always thought there was never enough said about Ulen and Via, seeing as they were a very important part of the Ultimate Coordinator project, and the creation of the clones. You might get the impression that Dr. Hibiki was heartless, but I don't think that's true. He had to have had morals. The scene with Al Da Flaga in episode 45 of Gundam Seed leads me to believe that Ulen had to have had a conscience, since he only agreed to making the clones because it would support his research. What was he thinking when the mansion he died in went up in flames? I hope I have done it justice with my characterization of him.

Anyway, I'll stop yapping. I own nothing. Just this story ^_^

**Footsteps of a Fool**

**By: Angel Wings-008**

Ulen Hibiki was a disgrace. It had taken him his entire life to realize that.

His was the dream of mankind; the unreachable, the unattainable. The sky was the limit, and the sky was limitless. He had always believed that to be true. Only now, at the end of everything, did he see how horribly backwards such a view really was.

People wanted a utopia, didn't they? They wanted a world where all was at peace, and everyone, everywhere, would always live in harmony; such people would be eternally joyful and happy, roaming the earth and the stars themselves as nothing but blissful, oblivious dolls. What was happiness when you knew nothing else? It seemed it would be an empty emotion indeed.

They wanted a world where the sun was always shining; in such a world, no one would know the horrors of war. Could they then, truly understand peace? Hatred could not exist; could love exist in such a world? Chaos could not exist; could order exist in such a world? Sorrow could not exist; could joy exist in such a world?

They wanted a world where they would never have to worry; no more uncertainty, no more failure, no more pain. Perfection was something the human race as a whole strove for. Always in their minds eye, yet always out of reach. Ulen was just like them, and now that he realized the truth, it disgusted him. The sky was limitless? How foolish indeed. Nothing was flawless. Nothing was absolute. He was a scientist; he should have known better. All his life, he'd been living for the future, imagining a fantasy world that could never exist.

Ulen had always been obsessed with reaching what no one else had ever reached; purity and perfection. Impossible was never a word he had truly understood. _Unattainable? I think not. I can always make it happen. _Those words had followed him no matter where he went, nevermind what the task at hand might have been. It was a mantra he never forgot.

This world was tainted and black; he could see it, and that didn't exclude him by any means. In his life, he'd done things he could scarcely believe himself capable of; things that went against everything he was ultimately trying to accomplish. He'd wanted to change the world, to give to humanity through his science. It never mattered to him if he used illegal means to get there; not if it meant more funding for his research.

What could a few clones hurt? It was for the greater good. He couldn't think of the lives he might ruin by bringing them into this world. His resolve might leave him then. Many unborn lives had been sacrificed for his project, all in the name of progress. In the end, their deaths would not be in vain. There would be time to make it right.

What was a single, fragile fetus, stolen from his wife's own body and placed within the cold metal confines of an artificial womb? The Ultimate Coordinator, the perfect life form, would finally be brought into existence. That would bring about happiness, wouldn't it? Perhaps his methods were impure, but wasn't everything? He could make that sacrifice, at least until his goals were met.

One day, his dreams would be realized. One day, he'd learn.

That day had come far too late.

Regret was a strange emotion, especially since he never allowed himself to feel it anymore. Only now, when he had nothing left to lose, did he wallow in it.

Ulen closed his eyes and bowed his head, tears running in rivulets down his face, sobs wracking his frame for the last time. As he leaned against the wall he whimpered in despair, his wife's burned, mutilated form nestled in his arms. All of the sins that tarnished his soul weighed heavily upon him, and he lamented the fact that if there was such as place as heaven, he would never see it. Forever would he be separated from Via, and from the children he had helped create. This was his punishment for thinking he could overcome the darkness of the universe by tearing apart his own soul. He'd played God, and he was paying for it.

Flames licked at his flesh and danced upon his skin, searing into muscle, burning into bone. He was glad he had so painstakingly tampered with Kira's genetic structure, though for different reasons this time. Perhaps if he was lucky, his son would not follow in the footsteps of a fool.

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Thank you so much for reading. Reviews are wonderful :D. Please let me know if there are any mistakes as well. I edited the shit out of this thing, so it should be fine, but maybe there's still something I missed.


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